From last year, Neil Young gives an angry speech in support of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations and other communities live at the front lines of the largest industrial project on earth. Much of ACFN’s traditional territories are home to tar sands rich deposits eyed by industry for exploitation.
Neil Young has visited our territory and seen the impacts of the tar sands first hand. That is why he has partnered with ACFN to raise money for the legal challenge of tar sands expansion and environmental destruction.
In the “Honor the Treaty” concert series this January, Neil Young and Diana Krall will perform live in Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, and Calgary. 100% of all proceeds will go to ACFN.
A film of Neil Young singing “Needle of Death” was shown at “A Celebration of Bert Jansch” at the Royal Festival Hall in London on Dec. 3.
Neil has commented that he first started listening to Bert Jansch in Vicky Taylor’s apartment in Yorkville Village in Toronto in the mid-60s. He was captivated with Jansch’s first recording and listened to it over and over. Neil has admitted borrowing heavily from “Needle of Death” for his own “Ambulance Blues” a decade later, according to Young historian and Zuman Sharry Wilson.
Young toured with Jansch in 2011.
Jansch, who was credited with influencing a generation of musicians, died in October 2011 at the age of 67 after a two-year battle with lung cancer.
The Scottish musician Jansch was a founding member of the group Pentangle, with whom he gave his last public performance in August of that year when they reformed, according to an article from the Scotland Herald.
Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant was among music stars who celebrated the work and inspiration of the late folk-rock guitarist Bert Jansch at the tribute concert. Also on the bill were former Suede star Bernard Butler, 60s chart act Donovan – famed for tracks such as Hurdy Gurdy Man – and London Town hit-maker Ralph McTell.
Not that anyone ever would believe that Neil Young could “suck,” but according to Nick DeRiso at Something Else! Reviews there were certainly moments, and they seemed to come in bunches, when Neil Young stumbled so badly in the 1980s that it was difficult to imagine he’d ever regain his footing.
But, not always.
“It was a period of principled stands against the record-label intrusion of the day, and — alas — of unlistenably noble experiments. Still, if you dig deeply enough, you’re likely to discover something of value even on the occasionally intolerable techno-focused Trans,”DeRiso writes.
The author lists five of Young’s works that didn’t suck during that era, leaving out the justifiably celebrated 1989 project Freedom, since by then Young was rounding back into shape, he says.
We won’t tell you which ones he picked as shining stars in a decade that some feel was less than lackluster as far as muic goes. But there were some choice moments by Young
Just as an aside, 1983 was the year Young said that being sued by his new record label for making records that were “not commercial” and “unrepresentative” was “better than a Grammy” because it cemented his ornery maverick reputation.
David Geffen, who thought Young’s quixotic early 1980s records were sabotaging his career and making Geffen look stupid, emerged as a heavy-handed fool. He quickly dropped the suit and apologised. “He’s a big man for saying he was so fuckin’ wrong,” said Young, who responded, to his manager’s horror, by insisting that his deal was slashed in half as an expensive gesture of commitment to creative freedom.
Anyway hear is one of the chosen favs.
See for the rest for yourself the the list of favorable 1980s tunes at:
Pearl Jam does a killer version of “Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World” on Nov. 15 during an extensive fall tour at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX.
The marathon 33-song performance came to a close with a lengthy second encore that included a pair of guests on a Neil Young cover, according to Jam Base. Lots of high energy with musical guests guitarist Carrie Brownstein and on vocals Annie St. Vincent Clark.
“Dream up, dream up, let me fill your cup
With the promise of a man. ” by -- Neil Young
Neil Young on Tour
Sugar Mountain setlists
Tom Hambleton provides BNB with setlists, thankfully. His website is the most comprehensive searchable archives on the Internets about anything Neil Young related setlists. Goto Sugar Mountain.
memphish on 
Albert Stromann on 
liza on 
Baz on 
